Shots erupted outside a party for teenagers at a Florida nightclub early on Monday, killing two people and wounding as many as 17 others in the latest burst of gun violence to wrack the state this summer, according to authorities.
The shooting in Fort Myers took place just after 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT) in the parking lot of Club Blu, where officers found "several victims suffering from gunshot wounds", the city police department said in a statement.
Besides the two fatalities, a local hospital said there were 17 other victims, ranging between ages 12 and 27. Police put the number of wounded at 14 to 16, with their injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, Reuters reported. Investigators had yet to determine a motive and were trying to identify the two people who were killed, the statement said. Police said three people had been detained for questioning and that the area was deemed safe, although roads in the vicinity remained closed.
The shooting came six weeks after a massacre at a nightclub in the Florida city of Orlando, where a lone gunman who sympathized with extremist groups killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in US history. Club Blu, located about 150 miles southwest of Orlando in the Gulf Coast city of Fort Myers, was hosting a "swimsuit glow party" for people of all ages, according to a flyer posted on Twitter by local television station WINK.
To enter, patrons were not required to show proof that they were the legal age to drink alcoholic beverages.
Police said shots were also fired at a nearby residence, where there was one minor injury.
